Abandoned Carts

Tis the season for filling online shopping carts and then, if you’re me, leaving the tab open on my phone for a couple days or months. Sometimes I intentionally abandon the cart, hoping that the retailer will notice and send me a coupon code. Sometimes the cart holds something that really seemed like a good idea in the moment — lately, something I clicked to from Facebook or Instagram — but then the fervor fades.

Yesterday I abandoned a cart in a fit of pique. This cart held my son’s senior portraits. I had filled up the cart on the photography studio’s website multiple times, trying different coupon codes and combinations of products, but could never pull the trigger. The prices just seemed ridiculously high, and I strongly disliked the feeling that the studio was taking advantage — knowing that every parent feels honor bound to buy their child’s senior portrait.

I was thisclose to spending around $180 just to get three 8×10 portraits when I finally put the phone down and said no. I can use my phone and take a nice picture of my son, order photo prints, and frame them for me and his grandmothers for a hell of a lot less than $180. I could probably even rent a tux for him to wear. And I could take nice photos of the other two kids while I’m at it, since I haven’t bought any school photos in several years, actually.

So that was my big stand, and it made me feel a little better about buying other needed items, like new sheets and pillows for us. I got my sheets, as usual, from Under the Canopy, “the most sustainable home brand on the market.” The cost wasn’t too bad.

In terms of gifts, I have bought some items new and from large retailers like Kohl’s, but have worked in some used items and some from local purveyors too. Fiona and I shopped on Haddon Avenue on Black Friday. After hot chocolate at Grooveground, we got a holiday collar for the dog at the Principled Pet and Fiona bought herself a cool watch from Clutter for $5. The next day we got her some needed clothes from Plato’s Closet, including a Lululemon score. I don’t know if I have it in me this year to do any homemade gifts.

We bought a Christmas tree last night — a smaller one than usual, since the dog’s crate makes it harder to squeeze in. I’ve got all my other decorations up and am fully ensconced in cozy season, lighting candles every night. This year I was inspired by pictures on FB of Christmasy kitchens to hang lights in mine. I mean, I spend so much time in there, it may as well be festive.

It’s a bit college-dorm-room, but I like it. I need to adjust the left side.

This first week of December has been chilly, with highs in the 30s, and put me in the mood for soup. Last Sunday, I made chicken stock with a rotisserie carcass and carrots and onions. Then on Monday at lunchtime, I sauteed garlic in olive oil, herbs and white wine and added it in, along with the leftover chicken from the carcass. Later I added cooked ditalini, and right before serving, I added fresh lemon juice to those who wanted it — about 2 teaspoons per soup bowl. It was so good and easy and everyone liked it! I still get excited when those stars align. I ate soup for dinner the next two nights. Don’t forget the grated pecorino romano.

Didn’t think I could recreate that magic, but yesterday (Saturday), I decided to do a chicken-and-dumplings soup (stew?). I used this slow-cooker recipe but only used three (large) chicken breasts, which was plenty. I didn’t have poultry seasoning, but was able to assemble it from spices I had. It’s sage, marjoram (I used oregano, close enough), black pepper, nutmeg, and rosemary. I was wary of the chicken cooking too fast, and sure enough it was plenty done after 2.5 hours on high, so I ended up having to take it out and keep cooking the biscuits. Anyway, it turned out great and everyone liked it. I served it over mashed potatoes. No pics — it wasn’t particularly photogenic.

Otherwise, there were a lot of individual meals of one’s own choosing this week, one night of fish and tater tots, and one night of the Dark Master of the Golden Arches (trademark: my sister).

I took Friday off and went shopping with my mom. Tom, Fiona and I went ice skating at the Cooper River rink last night, after getting the tree, and decorated the tree tonight. Also had a night of Christmas crafting and beers with friends, and a coffee date with a friend today. Inexpensive festive fun. I really needed that random day off.

Rocco is doing somewhat better with walking on the leash these days. I look forward to our walks, as long as it’s above freezing out.

A couple random good things:

• Submitted my ANCHOR rebate application (on the last possible day).
• Used Wawa points to get a free coffee for Tom.
• My mom gave me a Sephora gift card that she had never used (which I can use for F.)
• Tom Superglued the handle back onto our air fryer after it broke off.

Finally, I read this NYT story about Ballerina Farm with interest. It got me thinking about some of the accounts I follow on Instagram, like Heather at North Ridge Farm in Vermont, or homegrown_handgathered, a couple doing both of those things down South. I do love to sit and scroll through beautiful images of spotless, firelit country kitchens or gorgeous jeweltone corn kernels being turned into tortillas. In a vague way, I want to emulate these folks, but I know that what they present is necessarily a sanitized version of their lives. (It helps that I worked on a real farm.) And that doesn’t bother me. I don’t know if I could stomach Ballerina Farm, but generally, I’m OK with a little puffery. Farm life is not likely to ever be much more than a fantasy for me anyway.